The Aftermath
by super ario
Summary: Phil DeVille may have conquered meningitis, but will he survive the aftermath the virus leaves behind?


**Disclaimer: **The Rugrats ain't mine, but these dirty socks are.

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><p>Betty's heart is broken when the doctor confirms. Her son is alive, and thankfully so, but there are in fact complications. The virus has been cleared from his body, which is exactly what everyone had been praying for, but they're warned about his recovery which will evidently not be easy. Betty figures as much. She had always known that meningitis was a serious and dangerous illness to contract, and never had she ever considered the mere possibility of one of her own children suffering at the hands of the virus. But her Phil had somehow fallen ill, suddenly and rapidly, and it hadn't taken long to realize that it was not just a regular flu. She had seen him there, lying helpless in his hospital bed, at the brink of death. She had faced the possibility of losing one of her two children, and her only son.<p>

The DeVille family had never been too religious, but Betty and the others had found themselves praying day in and day out for the 14 year old's recovery. The doctor had said that if the boy had arrived at the hospital just a few hours later, he would likely have perished. But somehow, by some miracle, the boy had made it through. The antibiotics, as powerful as they were, had flushed the virus clean out of his system and he was expected to be released from the hospital within the next few days. Betty hadn't cried since the day the twins were born. She hadn't cried when her son was near death, hadn't cried when she worried for his survival. But when she found out that her son was going to be okay, she lost it. Betty had always been a strong woman, and had wanted to stay strong for not only her daughter and her husband and for everyone around her, but for her son as well. But she was a mother who had almost lost a child and the bittersweet joy had sent her reeling with emotion. Didi and Howard had struggled to keep her on her feet.

"Is this common?"

Lucy Carmichael glances up from the clipboard in her hands and gives Betty a sigh. She's known the DeVilles since she and her family had moved in across the street from them, back when her kids were younger and the twins had not even reached their second birthday. She had watched them grow up with her children, with the Pickles, with the Finsters. Her heart had skipped a beat when she'd learned that Phil had been checked into her hospital. She had been lucky to take his case on, as a doctor, something which made the boy's worried family rest a little easier. "Unfortunately, yes," she says, nodding. "It's not uncommon for people with meningitis to suffer long-term hearing loss, and there's a lot of reasons for it. Some cases are worse than others, and unfortunately Phil's case is pretty extreme. But the thing to remember is that deafness won't kill him. Meningitis had the chance but he's a strong young man and he's alive and recovering and he's going to be okay. That's what's most important right now."

"Of course, of course," Betty says, rubbing her forehead. "I know that. It's just, you know Philly. This is going to really break his little heart, knowing that he won't ever be able to properly hear again. I can't even imagine the pain that he must be going through trying to understand this. Trying to understand that this is a permanent thing and not just something that will go away in a few days. It's all just been really difficult for him this past week."

"And unfortunately, it's going to be difficult for a while," Lucy reminds her. "Adjusting to this change is not going to be an easy thing to do. There's going to be a lot of speed bumps along the way, but you'll get there eventually. He will get there, and everyone will get there in due time. It's just a matter of not letting this ruin his life and his spirits. Taking it one day at a time and getting through the daily hurdles. In the future we will see what we can do about maybe getting him some help - trying hearing aids, to see if those work for him. Maybe even surgery somewhere down the line. There's a lot of possibilities so don't let yourself get discouraged now, and definitely don't let him get discouraged either. It's going to be a long process but in the end I promise you, Betty, everything is going to be okay."


End file.
